Riverside Park, Dawson Springs

Riverside Park
The Great Wooden Ballpark
	;
Former names	Tradewater Park
Location	901 W. Arcadia Ave ; Dawson Springs, KY 42408 ; United States
Coordinates	37°09′39″N87°41′53″W / 37.16083°N 87.69806°W
Owner	City of Dawson Springs
Operator	City of Dawson Springs
Field size	Left Field – 335 ft. ; Center Left- 365ft. ; Center Field – 405 ft. ; Center Right – 365 ft. ; Right Field – 335ft.
Surface	Grass
Construction
Broke ground	1904
Opened	1914
Renovated	1999 Rebuilt
Closed	Circa 1935–1999
Demolished	Circa 1935 flood
Main contractors	Dawson Springs Community
Tenants
	Pittsburgh Pirates (NL) (1914–1916) ; Dawson Springs Resorters (1916); Tradewater Pirates (KIT) (1999–2011)

Last updated November 21, 2024

Riverside Park, located in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, was originally built in 1914 to serve as a spring training park for the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1914 to 1917. Sometimes referred to as Tradewater Park, it is the only known baseball park in Kentucky to have hosted a major league team since the Louisville Colonels folded in 1899. While the original stadium was destroyed in a flood in the 1930s, it was later rebuilt in 1999. Like the original stadium, the rebuilt park is reconstructed out of wood. It is the only ballpark of its kind in Western Kentucky.

History

Initial park

Dawson Springs is home to a mineral spring that was believed by many to have medical healing qualities. This led to it becoming a huge resort town. Thousands of people came to drink and bathe in the spring. Forty hotels sprung up to accommodate the tourists. The Pittsburgh Pirates seeing these large crowds decided to make Dawson Springs their spring training home.

In 1914 Riverside Park was built to serve as the spring training venue for the Pirates. The entire ballpark was made entirely from wood, from the grandstand to the dugout. Local citizens then constructed a large indoor pavilion for spring training and exhibition games and an additional wing was built onto the New Century Hotel to accommodate the players. Teams soon came from St. Louis, Chicago, Kansas City, Louisville, Indianapolis, Cincinnati and Philadelphia, as well as minor league squads from Columbus, Ohio and Toledo, Ohio to play the Pirates at Riverside Park. These teams consisted of other major league squads, American Association teams, colleges, semi-professional teams, and even teams formed by local mining companies and businesses. Hall of Famer Honus Wagner and his friends often went fishing at the Old Mill Dam, located right beside Riverside Park and a short walking distance from the New Century Hotel. Wagner, who trained on this field for 3 years, organized a team of local young boys known as "Honus Wagners' Young Recruits." Several other future members of the Hall of Fame including; Babe Ruth, "Shoeless" Joe Jackson, Casey Stengel, and Ty Cobb also played baseball at Riverside Park.

The team remained there through spring training of the 1916 season. The following season, the Pirates trained at Barrs Field, located in Jacksonville, Florida. Records also show that some major league teams played expedition games at Riverside Park until the early 1920s; the Boston Red Sox ^[1]^[2] and Cincinnati Reds.^{[ citation needed ]} Riverside Park then hosted many local teams, among them the Dawson Springs Resorters of the Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League, continued to provide baseball for western Kentucky.

In the 1930s a devastating storm flooded a river that runs alongside the field's first base line. The flood washed away the entire stadium. In the decades following the flood, residents in Dawson Springs were only left with the memories of the ballpark, as there was effort to rebuild the park.

Rebuilt park

In 1999 Dawson Springs' Mayor Stacia Peyton funded a public project to rebuild the park, to help preserve the history of the city. While public opinion reflected the need for the city to fund other civic needs, instead of rebuilding an old ballpark, Peyton pressed ahead with the plan. The goal of the project was to make the stadium as authentic as possible to the original. Riverside Park was rebuilt using the exact blueprints from the original 1914 design. The largest stumbling block for the engineers reconstructing the park was building the field entirely of wood, just like it had been in 1914. The rebuilt stadium's seats, roof, and beams were all made from wood, to create a one-of-a kind ballpark. It is currently the only completely wooden ballpark in the region.

The stadium was used until 2012 by the Tradewater Pirates of the KIT League and then the Ohio Valley League. The team was founded in 1999 and joined the KIT League in 2007. The Pirates' first game at Riverside was held on July 4, 1999. In 2008, the team celebrated its 10th anniversary. The club folded in 2012.

Related Research Articles

The Pittsburgh Pirates are an American professional baseball team based in Pittsburgh. The Pirates compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) Central Division. Founded as part of the American Association in 1881 under the name Pittsburgh Alleghenys, the club joined the National League in 1887 and was a member of the National League East from 1969 through 1993. The Pirates have won five World Series championships, nine National League pennants, nine National League East division titles and made three appearances in the Wild Card Game.

Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner, was an American baseball shortstop who played 21 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1897 to 1917, mostly with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Nicknamed "the Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage, Wagner was a prototypical five-tool player, known for being a versatile defender who could combine a strong throwing arm with the ability to play almost any defensive position as well as being capable of hitting for average and for power. He is widely regarded as the greatest shortstop of all time. In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quad Cities River Bandits</span> American Minor League baseball team

The Quad Cities River Bandits are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Kansas City Royals. Their home games are played at Modern Woodmen Park in Davenport, Iowa, one of the Quad Cities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Augusta GreenJackets</span> Minor League Baseball team

The Augusta GreenJackets are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the Single-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves. They play their home games at SRP Park in North Augusta, South Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Palms Park</span> Baseball stadium in Fort Myers, Florida

City of Palms Park is a baseball stadium in Fort Myers, Florida. It served as the spring training home of the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (MLB) from its opening in 1993 to 2011. It has hosted college baseball games for Florida SouthWestern State College since 2014. The stadium's name is taken from the city's official nickname.

Eclipse Park was the name of three successive baseball grounds in Louisville, Kentucky in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They were the home of the Louisville baseball team first known as the Louisville Eclipse and later as the Louisville Colonels.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LECOM Park</span> Baseball field in Bradenton, Florida

LECOM Park is a baseball field located in Bradenton, Florida. It is the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates and is named after a 15-year naming rights deal was signed with the Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine, which has its main campus in Erie, Pennsylvania, and also a campus in Bradenton. It was formerly known as McKechnie Field, named for Bradenton resident and Baseball Hall of Fame great Bill McKechnie, who led the Pirates in 1925 and the Cincinnati Reds in 1940 to World Series titles. He was also a coach with the Cleveland Indians in 1948.

Bernhard "Barney" Dreyfuss was an executive in Major League Baseball who owned the Pittsburgh Pirates franchise from 1900 to his death in 1932. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008.

Al López Field was a spring training and Minor League baseball ballpark in West Tampa, Tampa, Florida, United States. It was named for Al López, the first Tampa native to play Major League Baseball (MLB), manage an MLB team, and be enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame. Al López Field was built in 1954 and hosted its first spring training in 1955, when the Chicago White Sox moved their training site to Tampa from California. Al López became the White Sox's manager in 1957, and for the next three springs, he was the home manager in a ballpark named after himself. The Cincinnati Reds replaced the White Sox as Al López Field's primary tenant in 1960 and would return every spring for almost 30 years. The Tampa Tarpons, the Reds' Class-A minor league affiliate in the Florida State League, played at the ballpark every summer from 1961–1987, and many members of the Reds' Big Red Machine teams of the 1970s played there early in their professional baseball careers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Terry Park Ballfield</span> Historic site in Fort Myers, Florida, USA

The Terry Park Ballfield is a historic site in Fort Myers, Florida, United States. The park is named after the family who donated the land in the 1920s. For years the stadium hosted Major League Baseball spring training, as well as a dozen years of Florida State League baseball. The stadium hosted the Philadelphia Athletics, Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates, and Kansas City Royals spring training through the years. Terry Park was also home to some early minor league baseball, most notably the Fort Myers Palms and Fort Myers Royals, both belonging to the Florida State League. Hall of Famers Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Roberto Clemente, Jimmy Foxx, Bob Feller, Tris Speaker, and George Brett are some of the notable players who have played at Terry Park Field.

The 1943 major league baseball season began on April 20, 1943. The regular season ended on October 3, with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees as the regular season champions of the National League and American League, respectively. In a rematch of the prior year's postseason, the postseason began with Game 1 of the 40th World Series on October 5 and ended with Game 5 on October 11. The Yankees defeated the Cardinals, four games to one.

Spring training is the preseason in Major League Baseball (MLB), a series of practices and exhibition games preceding the start of the regular season. Spring training allows new players to try out for roster and position spots, and gives established players practice time prior to competitive play. Spring training has always attracted fan attention, drawing crowds who travel to the warm climates of Arizona and Florida to enjoy the weather and watch their favorite teams play.

Ban Johnson Park was a baseball stadium located in Hot Springs, Arkansas. It was also known as Whittington Park and McKee Park. The ballpark was located within today's Whittington Park Historic District and directly across from the still active Arkansas Alligator Farm and Petting Zoo.

McCulloch Park is the largest community park located in Muncie, Indiana. The park is named after for local newspaper industrialist, George F. McCulloch, who gave the 118 acres of land to the city for a park in 1892. The park later consisted of a baseball field that hosted two professional teams; the Muncie Fruit Jars and the Muncie Reds. The park also served as the spring training home of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1943–1945.

The original Majestic Park was one of the first Major League Baseball spring training facilities. The ballpark was located at the corner of Belding Street and Carson Street in Hot Springs, Arkansas. Today, the site is in use by Champion Christian College, National Park College, and travel/tournament baseball and softball. Majestic Park has been renovated by the City of Hot Springs. Babe Ruth, Cy Young, Jackie Robinson and Hank Aaron are among the many who have played at the site.

Fogel Field was a baseball park located in Hot Springs, Arkansas, utilized for spring training games and baseball camps between 1912 and 1952. The site was also known as Fordyce Field and Holder Field. Fogel Field was built in 1912 as a spring training site for Major League Baseball teams. The field was named for Horace Fogel, President of the Philadelphia Phillies. Fogel Field hosted the Phillies (1912) and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Kansas City Monarchs (1928), Homestead Grays (1930–1931) and Pittsburgh Crawfords (1932–1935) of Negro league baseball also used Fogel Field as their spring training site.

The Dawson Springs Resorters were a minor league baseball team based in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. In 1916, Dawson Springs played as members of the Class D level Kentucky–Illinois–Tennessee League, hosting home games at Riverside Park. The league folded during the 1916 season with Dawson Springs in fourth place.

Minor league baseball teams were based in Lafayette, Indiana in various seasons between 1909 and 1994. Lafayette teams played as members of the Northern State of Indiana League from 1909 to 1911, the Mississippi–Ohio Valley League in 1955, the Midwest League in 1956 and 1957 and 1994 Great Central League, winning two league championships. Lafayette was a minor league affiliate of the Cleveland Indians in 1955 and Boston Red Sox in 1956 and 1957.

Minor league baseball teams played in Saginaw, Michigan in various seasons between 1884 and 1951. Saginaw teams played as members of the Northwestern League (1884), Michigan State League (1889), Ohio-Michigan League (1893), Michigan State League (1897), International League, Interstate Association (1906), Southern Michigan League, Michigan-Ontario League (1919–1926), Michigan State League and Central League (1948–1951).

References

↑ "Red Sox to Play 19 Exhibition Games". Hartford Courant . Hartford, Connecticut. January 14, 1923. p. 34. Retrieved November 4, 2018– via newspapers.com.
↑ "Red Sox Like Hot Springs for Training". Arkansas Democrat . Little Rock, Arkansas. January 14, 1923. p. 10. Retrieved November 4, 2018– via newspapers.com.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[1] "Red Sox to Play 19 Exhibition Games". Hartford Courant . Hartford, Connecticut. January 14, 1923. p. 34. Retrieved November 4, 2018– via newspapers.com.

[2] "Red Sox Like Hot Springs for Training". Arkansas Democrat . Little Rock, Arkansas. January 14, 1923. p. 10. Retrieved November 4, 2018– via newspapers.com.

[1]

[2]